Okami: A tale of a Goddess's Revival
by Ghosterr
Summary: Nature... is dying, and so to is the planet. In the land of Nippon, where Kamis' were once powerful and strong, now are powerless to stop the onslaught of demons that walk around like they own the land. It is up to the power of a deity worshiped by all, even the other Kamis. But, how can this deity, who's been dead for 100 years, possibly beat the legion of demons and their leader?
1. Introduction Chapter I

In this world, there are many tales, both ancient and new. Those that are spun in the years of the modern times are quint and humble compared to the tales of the past-which have grand extravagance to them. The tale that I weave out for you, young knowledge seeker, is quite possibly the grandest of them all. I do hope you will pay close attention, for this tale holds much excitement and tragedy.

It started long, long ago in a tiny hamlet known as Kamiki, laid nestled in a grove of proud and noble cherry blossoms. Each, and every, tree around the quiet burg was revered as a god. However, this village was not without its dark secrets. For you see, to sedate the ravenous hunger of _Orochi_, a fearsome cave dwelling beast, a young maiden was offered as a sacrifice, at the annual festival. With a body like a mountain and eight heads mounted on necks; the size of tree trunks, its blood red eyes, alone, were said to curse anyone who gazed upon them. No one dared disobeyed the horrific beast.

Upon the nearing of the night that a sacrifice was meant to be made, a strange figured appeared standing on a cliff top just above the village. It looked to be a woman, a mysterious maiden. The maiden, for the most part, stayed in that one spot; keeping a watchful eye on the village. Unless someone left the village and when she patrolled the streets at night. Those who managed to see the maiden were almost bewitched by her divine, near godly beauty. Her body was well endowed, anyone who laid eyes upon her could confirm. Her eyes were fairly large and round with luscious eye lashes that complemented her reddish orange irises. Her legs were long and slender, as too were her arms, her hands were dainty and each finger looked very long, she had "baby birthing hips" as some called it, bubblegum pink lips, skin as white, fair, and flawless as the snow, a pair of wolf ears with snow white fur, and a well endowed large chest. But, what captivated the villagers the most was her kimono and her hair.

Her hair was long, going down to about the middle of her calf, and looked very wavy. It was as white as snow with darker and and it looked to be silky soft. The style her hair looked to be in was almost like brush heads; with different levels of dark ink-black colorings as it went down, with two brush head-like twirled bangs resting on her small, narrow shoulders and a brush head/ice cream swirl-like; with twin swirls, to the back of her hair. Then her Kimono-which only made the woman more beautiful-that stood out against any kind of background.

It had four colors. A white colored base with orangish red and light reddish pink with light gray colored swirl detail ; on the inside of the kimono. The front of the Kimono had: sleeves; which connected underneath the underarm to reveal the shoulders, that went far past her hands and had a reddish pink lining on the top and bottom with a large reddish orange swirl going down the length of both sleeves and an M-cut; not a fold, with a white meets reddish pink lining at the top. It revealed a very slight amount of her cleavage, but it retained much modesty. Underneath the chest area was a reddish pink ribbon wrapped around into a large bow in the back, this actually made it look like the Kimono was simply two pieces sewn together and were held in place with that ribbon. The Kimono came down to a sort of upside down V cut that, like the M cut, was not a folding and had the same kind of white meets reddish pink lining.

Then, at the back, the Kimono was a bit more plain. It had a much more rounded V cut that came from where the M cut was; this was as well not a fold, and came down to a pinched back flare bottom; twice at the sides and once in the middle. Then, finally, to finish it all off, her legs and feet were covered with thigh high reddish pink silk stockings that opened up at the heel and the start of her toes.

Because of how brilliantly white her skin, hair, and clothing was, the villagers dubbed this woman _Shiranui_. But, because of her unexplainable beauty, actions, and the wolf-like ears on her head-in place of human ears-they assumed she was a familiar or a witch of _Orochi_...

There was, however, one villager that took it upon himself to face this beautiful, yet mysterious maiden. This villager, this warrior, was named _Nagi_, and he had attempted many times to challenge the maiden. But, his attempts were thwarted by the deceptive maiden, for her movements were swift, graceful, elegant, and her deceptive brute strength. A single punch from the woman nearly shattered an enter bone and a single toss could send the enormous warrior flying fifteen feet away. Truly, this maiden was a cunning and tricky adversary that could possibly never be bested.

Before long, the night of the accursed festival had arrived. A white plumed arrow heralded the coming sacrifice. Piercing the sky, the arrow sunk its shaft squarely into the home of _Nami_, the village's most beautiful maiden. _Nagi_, harboring a secret love for _Nami, _was enraged by this sign. Determined to put an end to _Orochi_ once and for all, _Nagi_ traveled to the beast's cave in place of his beloved.

The _Moon Cave_, a place as dark as evil itself, served as _Orochi's_ home. As _Nagi_ stood bravely before the entrance, a beast appeared; eyes glowing crimson upon eight thrashing necks. _Orochi_ stood tall before him, anxious for another sacrifice. _Nagi_leapt with incredible grace, swinging his blade valiantly. On and on he sliced, well into the moonless night, but _Orochi's _hide was like steel-the blade left nary a scratch. At long last, _Nagi_, his energy spent from the intense battle, dropped to his knees fatigued; gasping for breathe. He knew he was staring death in the face.

It was then that the enchanting maiden appeared, jumping down from some over head drop off of the cave. As if to protect_Nagi_, she stood her ground before _Orochi_. In the darkness of the cave, her far skin and white hair shone brilliantly. Alas, it was_Shiranui_, the maiden that dwelled outside the village. The maiden bared her teeth and producing a low growl like a wolf; revealing the several wolf-like teeth she had, she leapt towards_Orochi_ with clenched fists and murder in her eyes. _Orochi_ reared its terrible heads, readying its fangs for battle. The beast and maiden struggled wildly, thrashing about in the darkness.

Mysterious and terrifying, the spectacle continued. When the monstrous serpent breathed columns of mighty fire, _Shiranui_countered by summoning gusts of divine wind with ink soaked fingers and graceful strokes of her fingers and when _Orochi_ closed in on _Shiranui_, fingers dripping and glistening with darker than dark black ink-a gigantic tree suddenly sprouted forth to shield the maiden. _Shiranui_ fought gallantly to gain the upper hand, however. _Orochi_; protected by a mystical power, was not easily bested.

_Shiranui:_ skin painted with crimson blood and various gashes and battle wounds, lips cut and bruised, Kimono torn asunder into insignificant scrapes of cloth, majestic hair dyed scarlet red, and weary demeanor, unstably stood exhausted before the mighty _Orochi_. To see once a maiden with godly beauty reduced to such a sight, it was heart breaking. _Orochi_ saw a chance to strike what would be the finally blow against the bloodied and dying maiden, but _Shiranui_ refused to give in, and, with her last ounce of strength, the majestic and bloodied maiden looked heavenward and unleashed a melodiously elegant melody; which sounded oddly like a wolf's howl. Suddenly, the black clouds overhead dissipated, and the light-from the moon-glinted off_Nagi's_ sword as a beacon of hope.

Guided by his sword, _Nagi;_ who had been taking shelter in the shadows, stood proudly to face his adversary. Channeling all his strength into his scarred and battered arms, he leapt ferociously toward _Orochi_; his sword poised high. The golden sword in his hands danced like a puppet on a string. One by one, _Orochi's_ fearsome heads separated from their owner. Then, finally, with one last slash, the last head fel along with _Orochi's_ broken body into a lake of its own blood and in that instant, the curse that had plagued the villager's for so long had been lifted. As the battle subsided, the sun once again shone in the sky; albeit slightly dimmer than normal.

As _Nagi_ was about to celebrate the triumphant victory, he took note of the state _Shiranui_ was in. The fair maiden; lying on the ground, had succumbed to _Orochi's _poison and struggled to breathe. Scooping up and covering the maiden in his arms, _Nagi_returned to Kamiki. When they reached the village, Shiranui was no longer moving. She was placed on the ground in front of a guardian sapling, sprawled out in a snow-angel style. With the villagers all gathered around the maiden, the village elder reached out and took the maiden's right hand; gently stroking the back of it. He uttered countless apologizes to the maiden upon the entire village's behalf, for assuming her _Orochi's_ witch and servant.

Shiranui did not respond with words, for she had little to no energy or breathe to even speak. She replied with her hands, using the last big of ink that soaked her fingers to write the words, "Never did I get angry, peace for this village and world is all I desired" into the air. The words stayed there, for a few seconds, before the maiden's beautiful and elegant eyes closed shut as if drifting off into a deep slumber.

At the cost of the beautiful and godly maiden's life, peace was finally returned to the village. In honor of _Shiranui's_ heroic exploits, the village erected a shrine and placed a statue of the maiden when she was last seen; right before her fight, within it.

_Nagi's_ sword was christened "_Tsuykuomi_" and palced inside the moon cave. The villagers all looked forward to an age of endless peace... 

_However... this is not the end to the story, for there is much more to this tale than most people know._


	2. Introduction Chapter II

_ 100 years had passed since Nagi and Sharanui's heroic exploits. It happened so quickly that no one in the village really took notice..._

The _Moon Cave_, where _Tsukuyomi _was enshrined, was where it happened. The cave was as dark and dank as it was back then. The shadows clung to everything inside it, the darkness filled the spots that shadows did not, it was like evil itself used this cave as a home away from home. Entering into what once was _Orochi's_ horrific chamber of slumber and death was a figure, a mysterious tall man cloaked in shadows and darkness. This figure sauntered up to the sword; stabbed into the ground beneath a bell and archway, with a determination driven swagger. He gazed upon the sword, practically scoffing at the legendary blade.

"Is this the legendary sword...?" He asked himself; doubt and uncertainty filled his voice, "Is this _Tsukuyomi_, the sword that was used to banish the dreaded _Orochi_?"

Gazing upon the magnificent blade, the figure was forced to bask in its glory. The shape; and color, of the blade felt like a moon against the clouds of a black night. The handle itself actually looked like clouds and the top guard looked like a cloud with a golden moon on top of it. Then, wrapped around the shockingly razor sharp blade was a ancient looking rope; one of divine fabrication, in a sort of bow with a exorcism slip of paper and this strange reed or grass around it as well.

"No..." he murmured as he grabbed onto the sword's hilt with both hands, "it couldn't be..."

He began to pull and heave at the large sword, using all the strength he had. But, little did the figure realize, that the sky had changed. While it was still indeed pitch black with no ambient light, the sky had shifted to a very sinister and ominous dark crimson color.

"It's just a legend... nothing but a fairy tale!" He shouted as the sword was ripped out of place.

When he did, there was the briefest of pauses, a very solemn calm before a very dark storm. When the pause ended, eight giant shadows of colossal dragon necks and heads; each one had a unique helmet of sorts. They all stared intensly, with greedy crimson red eyes, at the figure. A devilish gleam in their eyes showed almost perfect visions of death, destruction, and chaos. Upon seeing the shadowy heads, the figure instantly dropped the sword with a loud clatter and recoiled back; trembling violently. It was then that the spot where _Tsukuyomi _had been delved in now spewed forth a sickening purple colored steam that spiraled around the hole upwards till dissipating; like lost souls.

Unable to take such a close proximity to the creature, the figure proceeded to spin around and sprint off from the creature's back, onto the stone floor, and kept on running towards the way he came in. But, it was not to be, as he ran one of the shadowy heads shot out towards him; causing him to panic so greatly that he did not notice the little step-down pool thing he seen before. Quickly the figure turned to face the monstrosity before him, just in time to see that ungodly abomination rear one of its eight shadowy heads right in front of him.

"O, he who seeks power..." it started; breath like it recently used tar as mouthwash, "he who has broken my bonds... speak the words, "_I wish darkness unto the world._" Utter that prayer unto me, and release my power."

The monster's voice was deep and thunderous as time itself, and accompanied with the crimson red eyes that easily looked into his very soul, true terror was well enlaced into the figure's psyche. The figure could not speak, for he had lost his voice to the terror the monster put off. He hesitated, for several seconds, before crawling back, getting up, and running away from the ungodly creature. Upon seeing the man's reaction, the monster raised its main, mighty head and let out a horrific roar that shook the very earth and made the blood in veins run cold and the heart shallow its thumping.

Onward the figure ran, with all his strength into each panicked stride he took, but alone he was not, for the creature was right on his tail. The man did not look back, even as he heard the mammoth creature burst out the front of the _Moon Cave_ and let out another one of its horrific roars. He kept running, ignoring the crunching and snapping of the wooden arch, ignoring the thunderous boom and clashing of rocks being violently blown out of place. He kept sprinting towards the village; unaware of the destructive typhoon of energy the monster unleashed from its body. This energy took form into something horrid, a giant wave of burning destruction that pulsated from its body onward without a seeming end. It scorched and killed all in its path of obliteration, not caring for the plant life or animal life or human life it took in its wake.

The energy ripped proud, tall trees from its roots, it tore the ground asunder, flinging rocks and giant pieces of earth from the very ground. It turned the sky a fiery crimson of hatred and anger; before quickly turning an ink black, and left fire and darkness in its wake. The energy charred the plant life it touched and blackened the ground it touched to an ashy, ink color. It was utter annihilation...

_ A horrible tragedy suddenly swept over the land. However, there was one village that seemed to escape the terrible curse, the tiny settlement of Kamiki enjoyed the protection of a sacred tree. It is here that the real story begins..._

In front of Konohana, Kamiki tallest and proudest of Cherry Blossom trees, was the statue of Shiranui. She was posed in a defensive pose, like she was ready to punch straight through her enemies heart; yet still retaining her feminine charm and beauty. It was in danger, a rock, the size of a small horse that had been caught in the tornado of destruction now flew in a trajectory that would smash into the statue. But, a force would not allow this, no, a divine entity would not allow this to happen. As the rock closed the distance between it and the statue of her, a being dressed in a divine Kimono; various colors of pink, peach shaped holes on her chest and buttock, see through clothes wrapped around her here and there, and other kimono aspect, flew in the rocks path and effortlessly destroyed it.

The entity was beautiful; as to be expected from a wood sprite. She had her ink black hair split into two large locks that went down to her knees and had slight blush on her cheeks. Strange ear rings dangled from both ears and a strange symbol was imbedded into her fair, flawless skin. It was Sakuya, Konohana's tree sprite.

"How troublesome!" She said; her voice silky smooth and gentle, "This is just like the ancient prophecy of doom..."

Sakuya partially turned to look at the statue, "What has transpired to bring about such calamity...?" She murmured.

The wood sprite's face grew a very serious expression, one of grim knowing, "We must act quickly, there is no time to lose!"

The sprite then turned her entire body to face the statue of the beautiful maiden; who was a great god when alive. She knew what must be done, but she also knew that with how little power she had left, how greatly it had diminished during the years she protected the village, that she might be unable to do what must be done.

"My powers, while diminished over the years I've protected this area, might not be enough to provide more time for myself in this world..." she murmured softly to the statue, "Amaterasu..." she called as she drew a circle in the air with her hand, "now is the time."

The circle she had drawn in the air formed, materialized into an object. It was a divine instrument, a tool of divine retribution, a divine mirror with a outline of flickering fire around the reflective mirror's edge. As it materialized, Sakuya continued to speak to the statue.

"We have never needed your power more, shine your divine light upon this broken and polluted world. Let your heavenly rays become our hope as you guide us all!" Prayed the wood sprite.

The sprite flicked her wrist and sent the divine mirror spinning and cutting its way through the air; making a large arch towards the statue. Once it reached the statue's back it stopped; in the blink of an eye, and hovered in place. This divine instrument, forged from the holy flame of Moegami himself, gave divine power to the statue, to the body of Amaterasu. It turned her skin from cold hard stone to silky smooth and warm flesh, pumped her veins back up with blood once again, and even started to get her heart's pumping and _thud-thud!_ going. Then, last to come back, was the goddess's soul, the divine entity's drive, her personality, everything that she was was now back in her physical body.

Now, with complete control of her body, the godly maiden proceeded to, unintended, collapse over off the stone pedestal and onto the ground; face down and buttock up in the air. The goddess was very unfamiliar with her body, for it has been far to long since she had been inside of it. Her eyes fluttered open and her pupils dilated for a few seconds, before centering themselves. The maiden looked around with groggy eyes, inspecting her surroundings, then focused on the floating sprite before her.

"Ah, such divine light, such beauty and grace. The only one capable of such a spectacle is none other than our mother and origin of all that is, Amaterasu." Sakuya cried.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Amaterasu; the divine maiden, heaved herself up off the ground and began to dust herself off. She pivoted her head back and forth, curious to her surroundings, as Sakuya continued to praise her.

"How delightful to see that the savior whose brave sacrifice sealed away the _evil demon_ away so many years ago has not changed one bit." She praised.

"Seeing you emerge after so many years spent as a statue brings happiness to my heart!" she continued; turning and spinning slightly to show it.

She made an audiable sniffle, but she didn't see what the goddess was doing now. To continue dusting herself off, she had quickly stripped off her kimono and started to dust it off, flapping it like someone does to dry a blanket, blowing on it, rubbing it, then finally putting it back on. That is when Sakuya turned back to face Amaterasu, who was just finishing by sliding her arms through the sleeves. There was a brief pause, the two looked at each other, the maiden cocking her head curiously at the sprite even.

"Amaterasu..." the sprite murmured after the pause, "gaze above you and take in the condition of the sky."

Motioning skyward, she showed the divine maiden the sky. It was blood red, it had small house sized boulders swirling around like angry bees, raging winds that went at the speeds of lightning. Not only that, but in another left and right look about, Amaterasu saw a clear picture of giant waves-the size of large temples-crashing with violent tenacity into the earth; flooding the lands. Truly, this is a devastating state... thought the maiden.

"Since your untimely departure from our midst, the world has succumbed to devious and vicious beasts. They have ravaged our fine and bountiful country of Nippon... but, never have the circumstances been worse than they are at this very moment." Explained Sakuya.

"Please, use your powers to banish the darkness and punish those who would do us harm." She begged

Yet another, another brief pause of inactivity and silence. Amaterasu simply continued to stare blankly out at the horizon-almost in pity-at the current state of the children in the world she had created so long ago. Then, breaking the pause, was a sound, a jiggle, a flash of movement that came from the extra large sized chest of Sakuya.

"Hm...?" She murmured, looking down at her chest; which jiggled yet again, "Eh? What is this, has something stolen its way into my robe?" She inquired aloud once again; inspecting her chest softly.

Slowly, it began to jiggle more and more, and as it began to jiggle more, she began to laugh from the ticklish motions. They continued, and her laughing continued, growing more intense with each passing second, until, finally, her laughing reached its climax. It was loud and fast, sounding almost like she was possessed by something that was making her laugh; it was partially creepy. Then, at the laughter's peak, an object shot out from between the crack of Sakuya's bosom.

As small as a grain of rice and glowing neon green, this object shot far up into the air then fell down like a feather onto the ground in a small arch with a few twists and turns in the air.

Giving a sigh, Sakuya took a moment to gather herself, "What on earth?" She mumbled.

Sakuya turned her head to and fro, searching for the cause of such a disturbance, only to find that same annoying little pest from so many times before. He was lying on the ground from the looks of it, it looked like he had face planted into the dirt.

"You again?" Sakuya inquired; aggravation in her voice.

The entity-hearing her voice-proceeded to partially roll over and then get back up to his feet, and right after, he began bouncing up and down; up a good distance in truth. Seeing this, however, caught the fair maiden in front of the tree's attention. She focused in on the little entity and followed each bounce it did with her eyes. She cocked her head at the little entity in curiosity and enticement; bringing a bit of the playful wolf inside of her out. It made her wolf ears perk up happily and snow white wolf tail-which had been wrapped around her stomach-droop down and start to wag in excitement.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" he griped; voice sounding like it had been breathing hellium, "Are you nuts? Boy, for a little thing, you sure make a big fuss! I was just tryin' to make the conversation a bit more interesting, that's all." He continued.

"Were you napping in my clothes again, bug?" Sakuya questioned; annoyance clear as day in her voice and on her expression.

The "bug"s, as the tree sprite called him, bouncing started to lean left and right with each other bounce. It was a bit sickening to continuously follow its movements with their eyes.

"Bug? I told you a thousand times not to call me that! I'm a wandering artist, the name's Issun!" Exclaimed Issun, the wandering artist, "If you don't believe me, I'll show you just how great I am and it wont be long till your bowing before my great brush!" He proclaimed with much pride in his tone.

He then pulls out a mysterious thing of paper; wound up between two sticks, turns to Amaterasu, and chucks it at her. At first, he didn't even really notice her, nor her beauty, for he was caught up in the moment of showing his artist's pride. He simply knew that the tree sprite had been talking to someone in front of her and randomly threw the scroll at them. Looking at the drawing that Issun literally threw unto the maiden's face, she could see the careful and ginger strokes of a delicate brush. Each detail lovingly drew in with scrutinizing efficiency. Only the brush work of a true master artist could paint such a masterpiece.

"Well, whaddya think?" Questioned Issun, "Even cuter than the real thing, no?"

Taking the painting off of her face, Amaterasu tried to answer the little guy's question. However, before she could speak, the little guy began to bounce towards the beautiful maiden: bouncing onto the ribbon of her kimono, then to her left shoulder, then finally up onto her cute little nose. Once more high up and eye to eye with the divine maiden, Issun was able to get a much clearer picture of her inside his head. The maiden "Amaterasu"; as Sakuya called her, had beauty that far surpassed that of any mortal woman-even some of the other goddesses and sprites like Sakuya. He pondered for a second, then another, and another, as he chose his next words carefully. After all, he didn't want to off put this gorgeous woman.

"Something wrong cutie? You look kinda down in the dumps."

Putting more energy to ponder about the maiden-mainly her looks-Issun slowly grew a feeling of familiarity. A sort of deja'vu sort of feeling, almost as if he has seen this godly maiden somewhere before. He couldn't quite think of where he had seen the maiden before, but the more he pondered, the clearer it became to remember who and where he had seen the woman before.

"Actually, you look kinda familiar..." Issun mumbled, "I got it! You look just like that statue of Shiranui!"

In response to this; considering that the maiden had not eaten in a century, Amaterasu picked the little Issun up between her index finger and thumb, pulled him off of her nose and held him in front of her face, then ate him whole. Sakuya watched with surprise widened eyes as this happened, as the great goddess Amaterasu ate the little bouncing artist. The goddess moved the little thing around in her mouth, tasting it for any delectable flavor, but found none. In fact, the little artist tasted very awful, so much so in fact that: her ears flattened against her head, her tail curled inwards, and her face scrunched up, and then finally spat the artist out of her mouth.

The instant that the artist hit the ground his neon green color changed to an anger filled neon red as he began bouncing around wildly. He was furious and it showed in his voice.

"Whoa! Whaddya think you're doin'!? Are you crazy!? A handsome guy like me should never be covered in saliva and drool, no matter how cute and stacked the woman!" He scolded.

Amaterasu seemed a bit bored with the artist now, since she couldn't really eat him or do anything with him. **GRRR**, went the sound of her food-deprived tum-tum. She whined a bit and fell onto her buttock and held her stomach, food was all she could think about.

Seemingly outraged by this response-however unintentional it was-Issun stopped bouncing and gripped the handle of his sword, "You'll regret messin' with the great Issun!" He exclaimed; unsheathing his sword, "Don't make me use _my prized sword, Denkomaru_, against you!"

**GRROOUUUGG!** was the low and bellowing roar that stopped the scene that played out before the three entities, **GRRAAAUUUHH!**

"Wh-Wh-What's that growling sound?" Inquired a frightened Issun; who made his way back onto Amaterasu's nose, "Also, why is it so dark, anyway?"

"O, great god Amaterasu..." whispered the tree sprite; who had floral cherry blossoms swirling around her, "I have used all the power I have to protect _Kamiki Village_. The village lives on, their spirits lie encased in my fruit. Cut it free, and the village will be reborn..."

As she spoke, Sakuya slowly began to fade away into the swirling blossoms, going behind Issun and Amaterasu to and around the large tree that Sakuya resided. The cherry blossoms that spiraled up the mammoth sized tree, shedding the darkness from the dry and partially dead bark. The branches looked old and decayed with absolutely no leaves or cherry blossoms graced its touch. It looked like the once majestic tree was tragically withering away, a very slow and painful death for a plant, little by little... till there is nothing by basic components of life is left.

"I trust in you. I know that you will lead us down the right path... only your awesome power can restore life to the world." Explained Sakuya as her body slowly dissipated into cherry blossoms that rushed towards the tree and disappear into the tree.


	3. Introduction Chapter III

Amaterasu and Issun both gazed at the sad and withered tree; which was so huge that when in its prime it must have had the greatest grandiose and beauty. In the base there was a gaping hole that twinkled and sparkled with a divine white light that almost swirled in anticipation of being entered.

"The tree's returned to normal, huh? That Sakuya girl sure said some weird stuff, "the spirits of the villagers are being kept inside the fruit"..." Issun took a gander skyward and saw a peach the size of a large horse lively hanging off a dead and dreary branch, "That's the fruit. That girl said _if you cut it down, the village will be restored_. But, it's awfully high up there... if you don't use _some kind of special power_, there's no way you're gonna reach it..."

Issun stretched a bit and looked around the area before gazing back to Amaterasu, "This Darkness is getting to me, too. A lot sure can happen when you're taking a nap." he commented sleepily.

Without even thinking, the great Goddess took a running start through the glimmering divine light. The warmth of entering the light was like being enveloped in the hug of a mother, caressing Amaterasu and Issun in such a way that they felt to be back with their mother. But, this was not as true for Amaterasu as it was for Issun, after-all, her mother was corrupted by pure evil in the depths of Yomi, and she was born by the cleansing her father did after trying to save his beloved. Once passed through the divine light, Amaterasu and Issun were brought at the foot of a beautiful land. The ground was covered with healthy grass, there were things of red and yellow flowers and little shrubs and thing plants dotting the ground here and there, and the sky was as dark as night with bright stars twinkling radiant light over this floating land of the Heavens.

"Where are we?" inquired Issun; looking around the area they found themselves in, "It got awfully quiet all of a sudden. I don't remember any place like this in the village. Well, we better keep our eyes peeled, we should look around the place for anything that might help us, too." Commented Issun; who had moved from Amaterasu's nose to the top of her head.

The divine maiden - with crimson make-up painted in swirl-shaped circles on her shoulders, a crimson painted oval with two lines going up a centimeter from both ends of the oval on the front of her bangs, the same paint going around her eyes in a crescent shape, and two crimson lines going up in a sort of curly swirl from both sides of her chest - does just that. She wanders about aimlessly like a lost deer, until she found nothing interesting other than the bridge with two fire stands that had lit flames on top. She tilted her head curiously, slowly walking onto its wooden surface; close to the reddish orange railing.

Amaterasu reached out with her left hand and gently placed her hand's silky soft palm against the wood; rubbing it along the grain as she walked across the arching bridge. It felt nice, the fuzz and softness of the wood felt so good against her skin, like a smooth velvety cake. Caaaake... thought Amaterasu; thinking about food, delicious, delicious food. The divine maiden stepped off the bridge, went past the two fire stands, and surveyed the new spot. It was like the last piece of land, however this one had a large plateau with a bordering fence; made of the same wood as the bridge. It also had several pots with various cracks and chips near the left side edge.

"Look at all those pots just waitin' to be broken!" exclaimed Issun, "Say, if you bust'em open, there just might be something good inside! Go on, go up and punch them, or kick them, or use that huge disc on your back to bash them open!"

Issun's excitement was a bit contagious for the space-cadet-y goddess. She was pumped up a bit herself, and with grand enthusiasm, Amaterasu ran towards the closest pot and, with a flick of her arm the pot was shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. It was scary, no, frightening how much strength this petite woman carried in her muscles; even despite being such a grand goddess. The ground was even cracked, not just the completely shattered pot, it simply stunned Issun.

"Way to go, my unexpectedly strong friend!" he exclaimed, "You just do that anytime you see something you can break... that isn't people... or animals."

Amaterasu nodded with great happiness as she bent down to pick up the few pieces of yen that had been lying in the bottom of the pot; and managed to not be flattened. The woman then continues on to smash each other pot with with the same frightening strength that rendered the pottery to shards, if not particles; picking up each thing of yen inside. Getting a total of 190 Yen.

Now, with no more pots, and the only way being to the right around the plateau, the goddess ran around the plateau till she came to a spot where the fence bordering the plateau-like hill opened up for several sections. She stood in front of the exposed rock and gazed upward to the edge, accidentally looking up so far that she lost her balance and fell backwards onto her back.

"Geez! How ditz can you be?" asked Issun, before looking up to the plateau-hill, "Whoa, whoa, hold on there, sweet-cheeks! Get a load of that!"

Amaterasu gander-ed up to the spot Issun spoke of, noticing a decent sized chest. It had whitish outlining on the edges of the chest, with a T-shaped cross in the front, sides, and back of the chest. In the middle was the symbol of the sun with swirls and a floral pattern on the bottom of the chest. Any part that wasn't those listed was a inky black. What was strange about the chest however, looked unlocked.

"That chest up there looks mighty tempting. Let's go check it out. Getting up that high outta be a piece of cake for someone like you, go on, jump up there. I'll make sure I'm gripped onto your hair when you do." Issun whistled.

Amaterasu didn't respond, but she did agree; even if she did not show it. She got up off the ground, dusted herself off and sauntered to a distance of five feet away from the rocky surface. Spinning around a 180 and taking off with a lunging start, the great goddess sprung up five feet off the ground and connected palms and bare sock/stocking covered feet with the rocky wall. It was like a spider how the maiden stuck to the wall for the brief moment it happened, then again springing up like a nimble cat over the edge - landing on hands and feet like a wolf.

"I knew ya could do it! You know, they say "Good luck is found in high places". So, keep your eyes peeled. We don't want to miss any treasure!" Issun exclaimed, bouncing up and down on her head.

Truly Issun's excitement was as contagious as the plague, the great and spacey goddess jumped in agreement towards the chest; slamming her fist into the middle icon that resembled the sun. The chest vibrated violently and trembled from the shock wave of brute strength sent from her punch, then literally blew off its top with a large puff of smoke and dust; shooting out along with it a thing of sake. There was a type of prayer ribbon wrapped across the neck of the sake bottle; shaped like two glass floats stuck together. It was a type of flash; made of a type of opaque glass, was one that very often was used as a sort of present offered at ceremonies to the gods in the old days. Amaterasu extended her hand and caught it before hitting the ground, sneaking it up her sleeve and hiding it away. Saving it for later no doubt; afterwards quickly smashing the pottery that laid next to it and the ones she spotted earlier. Achieving a total of 290 Yen.

It was then that the great Goddess came to a bridge - like the last one in design and detail, but broken in the middle section. Amaterasu tilted her head in confusion, pondering ideas that could aid her and her enthusiastic and infectious bouncing friend over the gap.

"Looks like the bridge is out. This shouldn't be too hard, um... _Amaterasu_, was it? That's kinda long. Mind if I call ya "Ammy"?" Questioned Issun; which was answered with an enthusiastic nod of the head by "Ammy", "Listen, Ammy... Ever head of the _spirits of the brush_? Good brushwork has its own soul, 'least that's what they say. Just watch, it'd take all day to explain... a picture's worth a thousand words, right?"

Issun then proceeded to leap from the top of Mount Ammy's Head, all the way to the grassy ground. It was then when he took out a thing of paper, a small brush of sorts, and began painting the bridge; only drawing crude looking blot-ty strokes in the part where it was broken off. Once the image was finished, the bridge before the two had strokes like the ones Issun painted materialized unto it, then disappeared in a trickling, sliding off ink sort of way; revealing the newly repaired bridge section. Then, with that done, Issun bounced his way back up to Ammy's head.

The look on Ammy's face; one that showed childish mien of excitement, practically asked "How'd you do that?!". Too which Issun replied; with a smirk, "Just a little technique I call _Rejuvenation_. It's one of many brush techniques that use divine power. It's a_brush god_ power that can _restore broken or missing things_. I've practiced really hard just to master this one technique, but there's thirteen! Each one is a power of one of the _thirteen brush gods_. Originally, all thirteen were a single powerful deity. When the deity died, its power was split up into thirteen different gods. Now the thirteen gods dwell within objects all around us, but... god or no god, how could anyone have the power to master all thirteen!?"

The maiden made a look of confusion; if not boredom, to Issun's explanation - it was like she had amnesia to her own identity. Then, without another word, the duo proceeded over the bridge and down the path that led to the next area needed to go; collecting and smashing any pottery she found along the way - achieving a total of 440 yen. Soon after, they came up to a large stone pillar; carved like a ceremonial prayer stone with a stone fence around it, that had the words, "River of the Heavens" scrawled down its face. It stood not to far away from a pathetic puddle of stardust; barely what you could call a river.

""River of the Heavens"? They mean the fabled stardust river? But, I sure don't see anything like that around here. It couldn't be that little puddle over there, could it?" Issun inquired to no one in particular.

Without a word in response, without even so much as a look or gesture, Amaterasu slowly spun her head in the direction of a very tall arch; made of the same wood as the bridges and fences of this place. It had this sort of alluring and mysterious feeling about it, as if something she had lost laid past it and up the hill it acted as the gate for. Sluggishly she turned her body perpendicular to the direction her eyes were gazing, then continuing on by gracefully sauntering on wards and upwards the hill-ish incline. She came to a sort of watcher's point, a rounded off edge that dropped away to nothingness with a railing of wooden fences on both sides of the point, some pottery; which were immediately broken and stolen of their yen gaining Ammy a total of 500 yen, and another wooden fire stand. It was great for stargazing... but, there weren't many; if any, stars in the blackened sky for some odd reason.

"Wow! Look at the stars twinkle!" commented Issun; at the few bright stars there were, "I haven't seen a beautiful and clear nighttime sky like this in ages."

It took a while, but after some time there was a distinct pattern of stars that almost made up a constellation, however it seemed to be missing a single star... how odd.

"Hey, look! Are those stars forming a pattern, or is it just me? Hm... seems like one is missing though." Issun questioned.

Ammy gazed out to the heavens along with Issun. Truly it was a nighttime sky that would have any mortal man and/or woman feel blessed; even more so if there were more stars in the sky. The pattern that Ammy saw before her sort of twinkled in her eyes, grabbing her attention especially. It was so pretty, so shiny, so... familiar. I wish I had some ink, then I could finish the pattern... must be so sad to be unfinished, Amaterasu thought.

"I know! I'll just paint the last star into a picture, that way it wont be incomplete in some form." Exclaimed Issun.

Issun went on to do what he did before; bouncing off her head and whipping out his brush paper and ink, but as he began to draw with the ink, he felt a large thud; like a mini earth-quake, right next to him. Before he could look up at the source of such a commotion, said source proceeded to lean over Issun and his painting; which was far from complete, and began to smear a few of her right hand's fingers into the wet ink; dripping it and smudging it all over the paper and grass.

"What the heck Ammy!?" Exclaimed Issun.

Not a word came from her mouth as she rose back to her feet and gazed back up heavenward. Amaterasu rose her ink covered fingers to the spot where there was the absent star, her eyes began to glow a paper-white and the ink dripping off her fingers had a sort of divine, darker glow to them. Then, just like that, she began to draw onto the very sky as if it were paper and her fingers were the brushes; drawing a single dot on the spot with the missing star, then the Japanese symbol for star. Finally, with a simple flick of her wrist - sending ink droplets scattering behind her - Ammy shot the symbol and dot forward and created a bright shining star to complete the constellation.

A light, as bright and divine as the very sun itself, radiated from the now-complete constellation. It was like the dragon shaped constellation had its light switch flipped on and the bulb had been replaced with an infrared bulb, industrial style. Out forth from the completed constellation spewed a dragon that had to at least be twenty feet from tail to snout that plummeted; like a missile, directly into Ammy and Issun. The dragon wrapped around them like a constrictor as a loud and manly roar came from behind the dragon that was trying to constrict them both; a familiar voice to the goddess's ears. Then, in the blink of an eye, the dragon was gone and in his place, sitting in a humble position, just a few feet before Amaterasu.

The land had changed, it now looked to be that of the celestial plain itself. The entire ground was gone, dissolve into an almost golden liquid with faint white mist clouds here and there. Nearby there was a large boulder a full floor taller than the tallest tower towered above everything proudly, but something that made it dwarf in comparison were mountains the size of titans, looming above everything in existence, looking down from their high perch to those below. Not only that, but even farther off than the mountains were what could only be described as sketches. They looked like faded and sometimes incomplete drawings of buildings, towers, bridges, etc. A feeling of divinity and peaceful bliss resonated from this place.

Mulling the man sitting before her, the great and divine maiden managed to remember her old friend; son more like, from his appearance. He dressed and just looked like a scholar, build and body of a thin and weak individual with a large forehead and pasty white skin; with brownish eyes that had a crimson outlining and a crimson circle with a line going down to his nose on his forehead. His hair was as white as snow and very long; going down to his shoulders even with the pulled back bun of sort on the top. There were even a bang that went down to his pecs on each side of his head. Also protruding out from his noggin was a pair of white and crimson red "horns" of sorts; like that of a dragon.

Around his neck was a necklace made out of shining and milk-white prayer beads that draped over his shoulders. It was lose, it clearly was much larger than his neck and it would never fit snugly. His kimono; while like Amaterasu's Kimono in the white and crimson color scheme, but it was a bit more unique in certain ways. In the design itself was much like a scholar's outfit; if it were a kimono, except the sleeves were made out of paper - over sized like Amaterasu's - and had not only Japanese symbols on it, but also illustrations all over it. Sashes made out of the same kind of paper; with the same type of ink across it, were around his shoulders in a vertical manner were also apart of the garments. To top it all off, the man even had a pair of glasses; made of tightly packed together paper.

"Ah... why, if it isn't mother Amaterasu. I apologize for not contacting you sooner during these long years. Having never forgot you, I, _Yomigami_, god of restoration, have eagerly awaited this day when we could again meet. While you were away, the _thirteen spirits of the brush_ that you once possessed, even myself, have been scattered across this land of men, and now lie in disarray. I turned myself into my celestial Zodiac form and transformed myself into a constellation and have survived up till now. The time has come for you to reunite all thirteen brush techniques. Your power is what is needed to restore the dried riverbed of the heavens and renew the flow of stardust..."he explained.

Yomigami slowly approached his "mother" and, with a look of happiness welled up in his eyes, he pulled her into a warm hug. It was one that seemed a bit childish, simply wanting to feel a mother's embrace one more time.

"I missed you..." Yomigami muttered.

The great goddess wrapped her sleeve covered arms around Yomigami; who towered above her, and patted his back softly. It was in such a way that it would make a child calm, the kind to soothe a child after having a bad nightmare. I missed you too, she silently spoke to her "child". Then, in a dazzling blaze of divine light; of various nature-esc colors of white and purple and pink, the body of Yomigami dissipated into a floating glowing orb of raw energy; glowing of purple pink and white, in between Amaterasu's arms. She gazed upon the orb as it slowly began to meld with her very soul, and as it did, she could feel the power of the brush coming back to her; however insignificant one technique was. The power of ink and creation came back, the three opaque little vials; in the shape of a 3D, bubble infinity symbol, that had been once empty were now filled with black as night ink.

Not only that, but a ray of ink began to draw itself all over Amaterasu's body, her kimono slowly undoing itself as her sunshine shining body was exposed; the light blinding the eyes of all. The only thing visible was the dark swirly lines that began drawing themselves all over Amaterasu's scarred body. The scars were few, but the graveness and depth of each wound was enough to kill the largest of men - these wounds were one of few trophies she held of _Orochi _and she's duel. The dark lines swiftly turned a crimson red as her kimono slowly dawned itself back on; the ribbon tying back around the kimono in the exact position as before.

Then, as if it was but all a dream, the entire heavenly image faded away into the previous star-gazing point that Issun and Ammy stood on before. Only, the two people that had come back were not the same, at least one of them was not. Amaterasu had remembered, recollected and recalled everything, everything from the past 100 years. Every petal that fell from a tree, every flower that's blossomed, each conception of animal and human alike, each death; of plant, human, and animal alike, every last detail to the falling seed and forming dew drop. Everything that she knew was what the world and the god's have watched, and she remembered it all, not only that, but nearly everything that will happen within a certain limit of time. A combination of omniscient and omnipotent. She took the fragile silence as a moment to take in the fresh air, pristine and crisp with the subtle scent of both cherry blossoms and morning dew. Then, a soft and cute sigh passed through her lips; along with it a fresh wind that went out in a swirling pattern. Even her breathe alone held the unrivaled power of pure creation.

"Wow!" Shouted Issun, braking the calm silence, "That was _Yomigami_, the god of Rejuvenation! Wait... so you have the power of Rejuvenation now?!"

He inquired her without hesitation, adding a jump, skip and a hop down to her nose to boot. Amaterasu gave a soft and beautiful giggle of amusement to her little bouncing companions childish tone. It was quite adorable; and so too was her soft and eloquent voice. The maiden amused the little artist with a brisk nod - however slow it was to keep him from tumbling off her dainty nose.

"Can you really use it to _restore the River of the Heavens_?" She gave yet another nod to his inquiry, "Then that means you were as good with a brush as yours truly!"

There was the briefest of pause between Issuns words, "Nah... it couldn't be true. Who else could master this incredible god technique?!" He finished off; going silent and bouncing back up to the top of her head, satisfied and reassured with his confident - but false - statement of superiority.

The goddess would humor the little sprite, for the time being. However, that doesn't mean she wasn't entitled to a little chuckle - soft and gentle with the tone of a voluptuous maiden - to his snappy and cocky remarks. She spun around; sleeves and kimono swinging with her, and took a trekking hike down the incline, but not before taking one last thankful glance to the wisest of her divine children, _Yomigami_. Her walk now had a more mature and feminized swaying of the hips; subtly to add a sense of sexuality to her walk. The kimono and her hair moved along with her subtle swaying, but at a moment's delay each sway.

As they drew closer and closer to the _River of the Heavens_, Issun began to mull over the recent events in his head a few repetitions, going as far as vocalizing his thoughts.

"Wonder if drawing some stardust will get the river flowing again...? Nah... it's one thing to fix a bridge, but fixing a starry river? There's no way you could pull off a stunt like that!" Who Issun was referring to when he said "you" appeared to be no one in particular.

Ammy approached the river-to-be and looked at it with a caring and motherly mien rolled over her face. She crouched down and draped both arms and sleeves onto her knees, cocking her head with a lovely smile creasing her longing lips; full and bubblegum pink. She mouthed the words, I'll restore you my child, as she pulled her hands and arms back; slowly hovering them above the opened nozzle of the first ink bottle. Her fingers waved and twirled and danced around the open bottle as the ink slowly slithered up the neck and out the mouth; acting like a garden snake, then forming ten various finger-sized blobs floating just below her finger tips. Amaterasu made a swift flick of both wrists as she speared each finger into the appropriate sized blobs. It was perfect, now each of her ten slender, lengthy fingers was dripping with fresh, black ink.

Closing her eyes; and keeping them shut, for a few seconds the goddess gathered up her power and, with an impossible flash of movement, her eyes jolted ajar and were glowing orbs of orangish red and yellow all mixed together; resembling the sun. These pearly orbs stopped the very essence of time itself and drained the entire world of its color, reducing everything to a sort of black and white painting drawn onto a slightly aged scroll. Everything was still, nothing moved, not even the flow of time. In mid bounce, about to the height of where the divine maiden's head would be when standing, that is where Issun was and would stay. He was quiet, and the enthusiasm he usually radiated was nowhere to be found in this time and space detached realm. This was what creation saw, this is what it felt like.

It had no... no perception of time, nor was it confined to the petty rules and limitations of space. It transcended above that, it transcended to a plain of existence few have starred into and came back sane. It was only the mortal artists that could easily stare into the fathomless depths of pure creation without having their sanity chipped away with each passing second. However, it was but the omnipotent _gods and goddesses of the brush_ that could traverse such a realm without any negative consequences.

With pulsations of her outlines; a slight lag that carried over with each pulse, Amaterasu slowly stood straight. As she moved and as the outline lagged behind, it created this odd animation that looked like a bad and choppy old time-y movie that kept slipping up and repeating the same scene in a redundantly prolonged duration. Continuing with graceful, fluid movement, the great goddess raised her left hand and reached out; touching the very fabric of creation, and smeared the ink onto the place the river would be. She made a single stroke down, followed by moving over and doing the same thing twice, thrice more times, until it was virtually a vast lake of ink. Then, using her still ink dripping fingered right hand, she sluggishly drew in the character for her son, _Yomigami_.

Then, with one word, she spoke the symbol of her son and with a vibration that made the timeless world quake from the raw energy of creation that gushed out of her voice. With the word spoken, then a sharp snap of the hand that drew the symbol, and the realm of creation was disbanded; letting the flow of time and the rules of space to take back their places. Everything began moving again, the softly swaying branches, the ginger blowing breeze, and the bouncing Issun; who tripped on himself when he came in contact with a hard headed Ammy that was not in the same place as she was when he bounced up. The ink that should have trickled away lingered, for a moment longer, before it began vibrating and trembling with power, then in a sudden and brisk blast the ink exploded in a dazzling bullet storm going in all directions; like the rippling effect of water rolling in waves.

Before Issun and Amaterasu laid a lake of vastness that held pure stardust as its waters. They sloshed back and forth by the kind breeze and twinkled each second the light of the nearby fire stands glinted on the surface. Issun - once on both feet - looked out down the shimmering lake and gawked at its majesty. Never before has he seen a near lake of stars and stardust all together; or just in the same general area, it was a sight that few must ever see in their lifetime, if it all.

"Whoa! The River of Stardust!" Issun proclaimed, "So this really is the River of the Heavens... but I want to know who the heck drew the darn thing..." he added in under his breathe.

The maiden made an innocent look as she gazed off towards the starry black horizon. She had a soft smirk curled up her lips as she continued amusing the little artist's ego. Before long Ammy trudged up to the starry, night blue waters. They sloshed and slapped the grassy shore with an organic slapping-splashing sound; every so often a bit of stardust washed up ashore and dissolved in a twinkling ball of beauty. Sticking out her right leg first the divine beauty leisurely dunk her foot and leg into the river; a shiver running up her spine at the temperature. But, she persevered and dunk her next leg in with her kimono; kicking off the shore further into the lake.

"Wah, careful, I don't want to get wet!" Issun proclaimed; going back and forth to avoid the waves on Ammy's head.

Ammy brought both her hands near her chest and bent her legs inwardly, then she pushed outwards as she slogged forward through the thick stardust. She rinsed and repeated this motion for many repetitions until she felt the tips of her middle, ring, and pointer fingers tap onto the dirt and grass of the next landmass. It was like the other islands, it had a reddish wooden fence acting as a border with a mountain near the back, even had a wooden archway that was glowing with a light that the hole in the tree did. With both hands she stretched out and grabbed two fistfuls of grass and hoisted herself onto the land. Once on the land, Ammy began drying herself off by shaking like a dog that just came out of water. When she did a shower of sparkling stardust that was dissolving into nothing. Then, she began exploring the new island; braking any of the pottery she found to keep hummering the artist. [TOTAL YEN: 694]

Then she proceeded through the arch; being enveloped by the warmth from before. However, when she passed through it this second time, she realized what the warmth was. It was her power, an aspect of it anyway, some of her power was being used to keep a seal, a barrier around this place, and that's why it felt so motherly. She hadn't even realized it either.

Once on the other side, the maiden saw a new plain open up before her very eyes. In a way, it resembled the last one: with the grass, plants, dark night, dark abyss below it all, and flowers, but this land had something more. It was much larger, in the fact that there were large mountains acting as walls, hills, stair-casing in certain areas, a cobblestone path, large rocks here and there, and ancient trees. Not only that, but after a bit of walking down the path, the goddess spotted the end of a navy blue rushing river that came to a carved out fork that lead to a waterfall and the way she just came; traversal via bridge. While she walked she spent some time to find and smash any of the pottery she found, for it seemed like Issun really liked it when Ammy did that. [TOTAL YEN: 930]

Soon the walking paid off, as they approached the end of the trail - the entrance to a large cave, guarded by a pulled-up wooden stockade gate. This cave gave an odd, but pleasant familiar vibe to the divine maiden, one that she had not sensed in a long century. It was one of honor and noble intentions; that and a golden heart. One step, twice more, thrice. _SHRROO-PWFT!_ went the sound of the stockade fence sliding shut. Amaterasu didn't pay it no mind, as her attention was caught by something much more marvelous, a stone statue, covered head to toe in vines and moss. It was a statue - at least a hundred foot tall - of an armored Nagi striking a pose with his sword pointing heavenwards. Except the most vital part was missing... the sword blade itself. Before going any further, she broke the pottery found in the cave and managed to get a new total of 1050 yen.

As the beautiful maiden approached the edge of the cave second floor platform, Issun murmured "Is this... is this the legendary shrine? We must be in the _Cave of Nagi_! The _legendary hero Nagi_ is enshrined here! He vanquished evil 100 years ago with the help of the white wolf, Shiranui!" as he gawked at the statue's glory.

"First the River of the Heavens and now this place... where the heck are we?!" He shouted.

"Boy, this place sure is a wreck. See? That sword's in real bad shape. The gods sure didn't do a lot to protect this place..." Issun stated, now mulling the entire place over.

The great goddess gazed toward the statue and bore a stare that could see through stone at the missing sword section. Her eyes began to glow like suns once more and in the blink of an eye a streak of ink went down the length of what the sword should be and - like the river - the ink exploded in beautiful, stunning glory as it revealed the now restored sword. With the fixing, the true beauty that the statue of the great and best friend Nagi had to offer. Amaterasu even bowed in respect to the statue, showing respect to her old friend.


	4. Arch I Wraith of the Spider, ChI Kamiki

"That really WAS your brushwork all this time! How'd you get so good? Exactly how ARE you, anyway?" Issun inquired.

Then, just above the statue's heavenward jutting sword, a bright and divine twinkling came from the black sky. A constellation, another series of stars aligning in such a way that they could only have been used to hide a divine entity.

Issun; being the first to notice it, pointed it out to Ammy, "Hey, there's another constellation! This one kind of looks like a..." He said, trailing off at the end.

There was yet another instance presenting itself where a constellation is missing one of its stars. It was sad, seeing such potential being wasted because of a simple missing detail; just like a broken statue or incomplete artwork. So, like the last time, Amaterasu took a single blotch of ink from her half full and refilling ink vial and placed a single dot in the spot of the missing star. Also like last time a bright and shining star formed from the ink blot and again like last time, an animal of the Zodiac came forth from the constellation; the land slowly melting away into the heavenly plains it once was not to long ago.

This time however, the animal was a rat, a very small and adorable rodent that stood atop the handle of a sword double, if not triple the size of Amaterasu. It had a very slim handle, slim enough for a child's hand to grasp, but it connected to the blade; which was the thing triple or double the size of Amaterasu. It was a grayish iron-silver color and had a wondrous shine to it. The blade twirled and twirled as it plummeted to the ground, slicing the air as the rat slowly turned into a little child, then it slammed and plunged into the ground at a diagonal angle.

The child was about three feet and two inches tall; as he stood on the hilt of the sword, with the body and frame of a child - even though he was much older than any child in existence. His skin was a flawless white, like Ammy's, that had this look of being baby soft. His short hair; pulled back into a small rat tail, was a silvery color, a bit like tempered iron or steel. His eyes were sharp, razor-ly so in fact, and had piercing silver irises; just like refined iron. However, the most notable feature on his face was the pair of three long scars going outwards from both sides of his small nose to his cheeks - it resembled the whiskers of a rat. It wasn't grotesque however, it in fact made him appear even cuter. Then there was crimson make-up on his face that went around his eyes, made a little dot on the tip of his nose, a trio-force of swirls on his forehead, and a single whirl-pool shaped swirl on both his cheeks.

He wore a kimono, which, for the most part, was like Amaterasu's kimono, only a bit more of a samurai, shogun mixture meant for a child. This kimono had a color palette of silver, grayish iron, and crimson - the entire thing having a silver background with grayish iron highlights - it even had plates of iron armor here and there. The kimono was practically two pieces sewn together with plates of metal stitched into the fabric, with the illustration of an unsheathed sword going down the length of the frontal seam's stitches. Each sleeve comes down to his wrist and the bottom comes down to his mid-calves. The armor sections of a samurai's leggings, breast-plate, and arms; including the gauntlets, were stitched into the correct sections of the kimono. Then, to finish it all off, the crimson markings that the maiden's kimono had were almost perfectly mimed onto the child's kimono/armor; for both the fabric and metal plates.

A large and bright smile was plastered to the child's face. He was simply beaming at the fact the great Amaterasu was here, so much so in fact, that he did something rather childish. He curled both his hands into fists and going from left to right he hit the gauntlet covered hand on each respective breast section - shouting out "Oi!" with each one. Then, in a flash of movement:  
he leaned down, grabbed the pommel of the blade, jumped up with the blade, spun two times, then landed down in a vertical standing position. However, it was his blade that stood; as it made a thunderous cracking sound as it was lodged back into the ground, while he kept himself up right off the handle. It was like a trapezes trick, he simply using his hands to keep from going any further downwards.

"Well, well, well... if it isn't mother Amaterasu." He said in a childish but arrogant tone; showing enough humility to let her know he respected her.

Ammy didn't care to be honest, she couldn't get over how cute this child of hers was. She just wanted to hug him and squeeze him and never let go.

"It's been a long time, but with all these monsters around, the only place I could hide was in this shrine dedicated to ancient heroes. If there is anything I can do to assist you in your endeavors, I am at your service. Make good use of this sword, as it was designed to conquer evil." He finished off gesturing to his sword.

It was of master craftsmen ship, but it wasn't something to show an excessive amount of pride for if he had not the skill to back it up with. Skills, however, was indeed what he had in spades. But, no matter how skilled he was, in the eyes of his "mother" he was a little child that should be cuddled and hugged and nuzzled and loved. In fact, he could see that look in her eyes, the one that almost foretold of a coming snuggle attack. Of which he did not enjoy, yet at the same time did. He despised being treated like a child just because of his facial exterior and short demeanor, but that was something he could not help. However, being treated like that by his "mother" was in on itself satisfying for the fact that he got a bit more time than the other zodiac did with her.

Tachigami gave a sigh as he let go of the sword pommel and dropped to the ground with a huff. He slowly shuffled to the side of the sword and stretched out his arms in a hugging position.

"Alright... I'm ready..." he grumbled.

In direct colorization with his grumbles, the maiden shot from the place she stood, scooped the little one in her arms, and began to hug him like a mother would. She made little sounds as she squeezed the life out of the boy, not entirely minding her strength. It got so bad that during the hug, Tachigami's back caved in and he fell limp; more of an unconscious expression on his face than a deceased one. While unconscious, his body began to sparkle and shine like Yomigami's did before. Then, his body melded into the same thing Yomigami's did; a sparkling ball of various colored lights with his symbol in the middle of the sphere. The sphere quickly merged with Ammy's body and the little boy's form appeared next to Yomigami's behind Amaterasu - sword drawn, held against his shoulder, and he sitting on the writing scholar's shoulders, two out of the thirteen were found and accounted for. It was cute, seeing how the little boy had his hand on the scholar's head, peering down at the scroll he was inscribing on. They both had a happy expression on their faces.

Then, that world melded away back into the _Cave of Nagi_, and with it came Issun's voice.

"Hey, that was the god, _Tachigami_, master of the _power slash_ brush technique... weird, I was told of him being taller." Commented the bug.

That is when it dawned on him, "Wait a minute. If you are getting all these powers... then you're just like the _Shiranui! _You know, the maiden that fought and died alongside the great Nagi? When Shiranui died, the maiden's power was split into the 13 brush gods. This is crazy, Shiranui and Nagi? It's just like the legend!" He ranted, "Well... anyway, I've never seen this _Power Slash _technique myself. How 'bout showing your stuff on that boulder over there...? I wont believe that you can do it unless you slice it in half!"

Ammy gazed over to the boulder in question, she detested the idea of needlessly destroying a part of nature, but if it was to make one of her children happy, she'd do it. With a huff she took yet another single blot of ink and dipped her pointer finger into the floating blob, then raised her arm and began to draw a single line horizontally across the rough egg-shaped boulder. She had her eyes closed while doing so, she had to focus and concentrate on remembering each stroke and emotion that must be felt when creating in the realm of creations. With one last stroke, the symbol for _Tachigami_ was complete and a flick of the wrist was all it took to materialization of the technique.

It was like _Tachigami _himself came down from the heavens and, with one quick swipe, cut the boulder clean in two. Then, for good measure, it was as if the god did a flip and hit the top half off the bottom with the back of the blade. It slid down and crashed into the ground at one end, then toppled over backwards with a loud _THUNK!_ and a mammoth sized cloud of dust.

"Wow! I... I didn't think you had it in you sweet-cheeks! I'm not even in the same league as you! Guess I overestimated myself... Hey, sweet-cheeks - er, I mean... Amaterasu... I've made up my mind! If you are _Shiranui_ reborn, then that means you can master all 13 techniques, right?"

She responded with a nod of confirmation and a look of interest, "Great, cause in that case, I think I'll tag along until I'm as good as you! Lucky you!"

She growled softly and tried to shake him off. There is no way, I could never put one of my children in such danger... she thought. But it was to no avail, for when she began shaking her head, Issun simply hunkered down into her hair and grabbed on with a vise-like grip till she stopped.

Then, with a chuckle, he stated: "It's no use tryin' to change my mind! There's no stopping me once I've made a decision! But enough about me, now that you've mastered the _Power Slash_, you can cut down _that thing_ Sakuya was talking about. Let's go back and give it a shot!"

With a huff the maiden began a trek back to the gated entrance and exit to the cave. There she drew a single black, inky line across the entirety of the gate. In the blink of an eye, it was cut in half, toppled over, and rolled down the incline of a hill. The woman took a step out and planted her foot onto the soft grass; somewhat on both the grass and stepping stone walkway. It felt nice on her bare, sock covered feet for something so soft after coming out of the rough floor of the cave. She took in a big breathe of fresh air and, with a pep in her step, began to run down the incline. The resulting momentum made Issun cling onto the strands of hair on Ammy's head for dear life.

The scent of the trees and the fresh grass floated on the slightly breezy air, carrying and floating along with the running Amaterasu. Soon she passed the second wooden arch, when a feeling came. The feeling of being watched, watched by evil and boring eyes. The eyes of evil entities, the feeling made the goddess stop in her tracks and grow on edge. This feeling was alien, yet familiar, one that she knew, but didn't know all at the same time. It was an uneasy feeling, one that Issun was late to pick up on, and when he did, the haunting sound of flutes had already began to carry on the wind. It was an evil tune, one of both melancholy and malevolence; tricking the ears with its wonderfully skilled playing.

Then, jumping down from the heavens itself, appeared three men. They were dressed in a kimono with a dark and grassy green color palette, pale skinned, wore white-wash paper masks with various symbols painted on them, and held wooden flutes in their hands. They surrounded Ammy in a triangle formation; with her in the center, as they took a deep breathe in unison, put their flutes up behind the mask to their lips, and began to play notes on the accursed flutes. They danced and twirled and skipped around Amaterasu, as if it were a game.

"What the?! Where'd they come from!?" Exclaimed Issun.

They kept dancing and fluting merrily, acting as if nothing was wrong. But this didn't ease the tension and suspicion of Amaterasu, it was, on the contrary, working to coil it up even further than that. She watched with agitated patience as the trio kept skipping around her in a triangular shape, it was when they stopped did she really get suspicious. While the two she could see kept playing like normal, it was the one she couldn't see that had stopped playing the flute. He had a mischievous and malicious smirk tugging at the corners of his wicked lips. He took in a very deep breathe, taking in his own dark, demonic energy as well, and put the flute to his mouth. He then blew as hard as he could and shot out a ball of demonic energy; purple and pulsating with indigo electric bolts, at Amaterasu.

_FWOOSH! _went the sound of the demonic energy whipping over the now bent over maiden. She had sensed the demon's treachery and malevolence before he even fired, and ducked out of the way. The ball of demonic energy shot onward and landed dead square into the trunk of a nearby tree. The spot where the ball hit turned a charred black, then a dead gray, killed by the demonic and evil energy. Slowly the woman bent back up, in an angry, but seductive pose; mostly by accident was this done. The maiden reached over her shoulder and grabbed onto the divine instrument on her back and flung it over onto the ground with a loud _CRAAAEK _as the ground develops a star-shaped crack going out from a rounded indentation. She held to the instrument - by a handle on the very bottom edge - like a mother held her child's hand and gave a look of a disappointed and scornful mother about to discipline her children at the demons.

She waited, watching the now openly hostile demons beat their balled up fists against their chests and began moving around and hopping around like angry monkeys. They held their flutes like swords, no longer like flutes, and wielded them like weapons instead of instruments. One got a bit closer to Amaterasu, then closer, and closer, till finally he got close enough to strike against the goddess. He raised his fist and lunged it forwards, landing a good blow on her forearm and bicep; as she blocked the attack expectantly. She then took a swipe at the demonic creature's body with the divine instrument; taking a good gash out on his gut. The blood that came from him went from scarlet red to a ray of flowers as the evil essence was purified, the monster screeched in pain as it took three large jumps backwards as he held his gut.

"Yeah! Show them dirty Imps who's boss Ammy!" Shouted Issun.

Upon the Imp's retreat, the other two lunged forwards. They took a series of swipes and jabs at the goddess; being blocked by both arm and instrument alike. Then in return to the assault, she lashed out with a kick to both of the Imp's stomachs, followed up with a large chop to the back of both imp's heads with the instruments; nearly crushing them like melons. The imps retracted weakly, limping meagerly away from their demise, but, they would not escape. The maiden's eyes closed, then opened and before her laid the realm of creation and all its canvas-like glory; only this time the forms that were the imps outlined where they would be in the material world. A blot of ink bubbled out from the ink pot and she dipped her index finger into it; coating the entirety with a sublime black coating.

Then in a single, strong stroke, Amaterasu drew a straight line and the symbol of her son, _Tachigami_ over the two limping Imps. Then, she blinked, leaving the realm of creation and emerging back in the world of materialization. The power of her son came to fruition and struck down the imps and cut them clean in half. A geyser of blood spewed from the two halves as they slowly parted, but each drop of blood turned into purified flowers that littered the ground; before the bodies themselves vaporizing into purified vegetative growth. From their bodies came their sin of greed turned to a more pure state; morphing it into various types of different monetary valued coins. Then to finish off the terrified remaining Imp, the maiden reeled her weapon wielding hand back and flung it like a Frisbee. It shot out like a bullet and ground against the abdomen of the last imp, pushing it back a few feet before finally passing through the Imp's torso; causing severe damage.

The Imp wailed out in agony as its entire body began to have these shafts of divine light pierce through here and there, then in a glorious explosion, the Imp's body bloomed into a patch of flowers. The flowers were of various color and height, but they did not remain for long; just like the last ones. The flowers were a bi-product of the Imp's impurity being cleansed, and so too where the coins that dropped from its absent carcass. With the fight over and demons purified, Amaterasu once again made her journey back to the tree of Sakuya. Along her way she encountered yet another trio of Imps, but this time when they tried to deceive her, she had none of it. She took the initiative and struck them down without mercy. In these two pointless, but unavoidable fights, she had accumulated a total of 2090 Yen; with the yen from before included.

It was with another passage through space did she step out from the tree's bowels. Amaterasu strode further from the tree, took a right, then converged below the giant, ripe peach dangling from the decayed branch. It was a bright pink with a bright, green stem and it simply shook with life and anticipation. However, there was something quite peculiar about the peach. On its face was a crimson line leading up to a whirlpool swirl in the middle of the overly sized peach. The goddess took her time to crane her head heavenwards to the peach, staring at it with expressionless eyes.

"That fruit sure is growing in a high place... good thing we got that _special power to cut it down_, right Ammy?" Questioned Issun.

She had a grin tug at her mouth at his comment, eyes blinking, ink blob forming, then another ink line drawn across the base of the stem of the fruit up above. When the stem was severed from the fruit and began to plummet to earth, the maiden took several steps back from the impact zone. It fell like a tremendous meteorite striking the ground with a ferocious fury, except it was it that split open with a large splash of fruity peach juiciness that cascaded along the dead ground. When the juice coated the hard and dead ground a dazzling flash of divine light perforated the darkness and destruction and went outwards with a wave of purifying, blooming flowers that receded the evil from the earth and replaced it with green and healthy vegetation; with the occasional animal. It brought the color back to the land in a blaze of various colored flowers, cherry blossoms, and fully grown trees that stood like mountains in height. The water calmed into a peaceful lull and the raging, whipping winds eased into a gentle zephyr and the rocks returned to being brown. Everything was right with itself it seemed.

However, there was something odd. The sky - while no longer a raging crimson inferno of death - was a pitch black. There was no ounce of blue, no trace of clouds, and not even a sliver of the sun to be found. 'twas like a sore thumb it was, simply not being there to brighten and lighten up the world now layered in pitch black darkness. Not only that, but this somber, gray, moody atmosphere simply resonated from the very environment which had been brought back to life not but a moment ago. Where is the sun... wondered the beautiful goddess.

* * *

Author's Note  
Hi there! Guys, I need to converse with you. Author to Reader, man to man, man to woman... horrible excuse for a writer to very tolerant and patient angels above. I kind of want to speak about two things. One: like last time i apologize and will cruxify myself for it being late later and Two: I got really lazy towards the end, so it ain't as good as I want it to be... but, I am too tired tonight, soooo... meeeeeeh, I'll double cruxify myself later.

Now then! SHATH I SPEAK OF MY FAVORITE CREATION?! LOLI TYPE 2: NAUGHTY TSUNUDERE BOY?! NO?! oh... okay... . I'll tell you anyway! I will be honest in admitting, I hand wrote a basic, rough outline for how I wanted him to look. I saw many deviantARTs of him being quite tall, and I was like, "But... he is the rat zodiac..." so I went for this loli type 2; the naughty type, Tsundere-esc personality wise young-looking boy, with certain "Rat" like qualities, and samurai/shogun-esc like clothing. I do so hope that is how you found him protrayed as, otherwise, I HAVE FAILED YOU AND I APOLOGIZE! I did forget something a bit however, the sheathe of his sword. It completely slipped my mind, but then I remember the size of the sword and I was like... yeah that be not happening realistically.


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